Why is it the way it is? Dinghys

Mike Holibar · Jun 28, 2010

Hermit,
we've got them here in plastic and alloy. they are popular with the fishermen but too heavy to make good tenders.

Snotter · Jun 28, 2010

The tubes cause you to loose space.

Rick D · Jun 28, 2010

They Do Make Them

...with FRP "tubes". Or at least they did up to two years ago; who knows if they are still around. Pretty pricey upper end craft. Never did see too many around.

jibes138 · Jun 28, 2010

Check out the Portland Pudgy. Sounds like just what you are looking for. Stable, doubles as a life raft, slow as heck under sail, my sand dollar can sail rings around it.

kloudie1 · Jun 28, 2010

The Way It Is

Snotter is right on.. The inside 2/3 of the tube circumference is there only to hold rigidity.. Make it out of fiberglass ans then ya don’t need that wasted space.. and voila.. it starts looking like a standard dink.. OK, that Dink looks a bit better than most !

Bill Roosa · Jun 28, 2010

hard/inflatable debate

If you want all the great things about inflatables and the great things about hard shell then I suggest you learn how to properly use a hard shell. While an inflatable does have more resistance to tipping when do you need that feature? Oh yea, when I put 8 people in the 4 person boat.(seen it and yes they do do that well but the point is you shouldn't do that kind of stuff with any boat). They don't carry more size for size cause you can't put anything in the tubes, so your hard shell will carry more bulk for a given size boat. If you just look a weight (and not bulk) you are missing an important fact about hardshells. Most of my cargo is not fuel and water (high density items) it is cloths, rope,etc (low denstiy items). If you are looking for an x number of person boat then the hardshell will be smaller becasue you are only looking at seating capacity not bulk or weight. My observation is if you can cram a person into the seat his weight will not sink the boat. You can get the water to be REAL close to the gunnel in a hardshell though and that is preceived as "dangerous". If you overload a hard shell then yes she swamps. You need a bigger boat if you are overloading it (duh).

Rick Belew · Jun 28, 2010

Re: hard/inflatable debate

Take a look at KL boats from Johnson Outdoor. They have many models and they have double hulls so they should float even when upside down. You can get them with swivel chairs, live well, running lights and they weight between 100 and maybe 160 pounds with motor capacities up to 10 HP. I don't know how stable they are but the 10.2 if I remember correctly will accept up to 7.5 HP motor and boat weights 140 pounds. That boat fits my needs.

woodster · Jun 28, 2010

Hermit Scott said:
I don't ever put 8 people in my inflatable, but I like jumping off the back of my sailboat and landing on the gunwale of the dinghy with out a crisis happening.
I have this fantasy about me building a mold and having someone with a chopped strand gun shoot the glass in and I finish it out. What I really want to think of is; what if money wasn't an issue, what kind of dinghy would I have? When I think that way, I'd want a hard bottom dinghy that I can drive right up onto a beach but handled like a rib inflatable.

if money were no problem you could have a sailing rig with a sugar scoop transom that you could drive your dingy up into like the motor yachts.....

regards

woody

J Hunter · Jun 28, 2010

"While an inflatable does have more resistance to tipping when do you need that feature? Oh yea, when I put 8 people in the 4 person boat."

I guess I'm no hardshell purist either 'cause I like inflatables when EVER I set foot in a dinghy. I'm 6'5 230 and its a pretty big, (practically immovable by one person on land) hard dingy that I don't have to gingerly step into, right at the centerline, crouched low with my hands and the load I'm carrying perfectly centered and ever cautious that others in the boat aren't disembarking without being ready to quickly shift my body. I've got a big solid piece of marine plywood I shaped into a one piece sole for my old achilles to replace the stowable 4 piece floor boards that it came with. It's as solid as a dance floor- no matter where I stand, passing a big, full cooler up over my head over the lifelines or when my 150 lb son decides he's going to dive over the side for a swim with no warning. You can't tell me a dingy that doesn't have that big flat bottom and those pontoon gunwhales that go down about 3 inches and just stop- with no rigid lever connection to the opposite side of the boat is comparable to a traditional dink in every way except when overloading. You sit in the stern of your hard dink with a cooler and I'll row, when we get to the boat I'll scamper off just like I do from my inflatable, then I'll throw you the life ring and call my wife for more beer.

Bill1565 · Jun 28, 2010

In 9 years, I have not been able to teach my dog to step into the middle of the boat.

Old Skool Neil · Jun 28, 2010

Everything's a Compromise

In addition to serving as an all purpose dinghy, I also dive out of mine. In my case an inflatable is a must. I've tried hard hull dinks of various sizes and they simply don't make it for diving.

Ron20324 · Jun 28, 2010

Hermit Scott said:
Hard dinghys are great because you never worry about puncturing a tube, or inflating them. Inflatables are great because they are stable .
Why is there not a hard dinghy shaped like a rib inflatable? Anyway, why not have the boat in the picture with fiberglass tubes instead of rubber inflatable ones? Does someone make this or is there a good reason they don't?

I gained title to an abandoned dingy that I wanted to try an experiment on. Thinking the dingy leaked, I planned to fill the chambers with cans of foam insulation. However, the dingy held air, and has few three season, so i never got to try the idea. It cost me $89, total, for a good dingy.

Snotter · Jun 29, 2010

The ultimate dinghy---a whitehall; but, I would need a schooner to hang it from.

druid · Jun 29, 2010

I've often wondered this as well, especially since most larger inflatables are NEVER un-inflated (and with a RIB it's hardly worthwhile). Yet except for having soft sides, I see NO reason why the tubes can't be a more hardy material. The stability or seaworthyness of the hull is not dependent on the tubes being made of some rubbery material.

There ARE lots of ones out there: aluminum, FG..., but nobody seems to buy them. I have no idea why.

druid

rejenk3 · Jun 29, 2010

Hermit I know exactly what you're talking about. The Tohatsu 5 will push the C22 at 5 knots with 1/4 to 1/3 throttle. Towing the inflatable dink it takes 2/3 throttle to get 5 knots. So, I went out and bought an El Toro for $200, planning to to use it as a dink. I cut out a small block of flexible foam to seal the dagger board trunk when towing. But what I want to try is to attach foam blocks (2ea - 9"X9"X8') to the gunwales. That is in excess of 500# of boyancy and may allow stepping on the gunwale, without an unintended swim.

Bill Roosa · Jun 29, 2010

why inflatables don't tip

if you look at it from a "displaces water" standpoint a hardshell and inflatable will both have to displace the same amount of water when you get in. However, you can stand right up next to the gunnell on a hard shell but you have to stand a good foot from it (hydrodynamicly speaking) on an inflatable. so while the inflatable just goes down in the water because you are entering it "near the center" a hardshell will have to tip to displace the water.
If you have a round bottom dingy this is even more pronounced.

Ross · Jun 29, 2010

rejenk3 said:
Hermit I know exactly what you're talking about. The Tohatsu 5 will push the C22 at 5 knots with 1/4 to 1/3 throttle. Towing the inflatable dink it takes 2/3 throttle to get 5 knots. So, I went out and bought an El Toro for $200, planning to to use it as a dink. I cut out a small block of flexible foam to seal the dagger board trunk when towing. But what I want to try is to attach foam blocks (2ea - 9"X9"X8') to the gunwales. That is in excess of 500# of boyancy and may allow stepping on the gunwale, without an unintended swim.

This also depends on the reletive weight of the dink and yourself. You can capsize a light dink easily with a heavy body way off center.

Steve Dion · Jun 29, 2010

Druid: How long do you expect an inflatable to last? If you purchase a Hypalon unit then you may expect 12-20 years. If you purchase a PVC unit you may expect 6 mos to 6 years (if you keep them out of the sun).

Why is it the way it is? Dinghys

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